New Jersey Hub

For a change of pace, this is a post about bears of the Stephen Colbert "godless eating machines" variety.

Ian Bohman of New Jersey stepped outside his suburban home only to find a local ursimorph out for a stroll. While a bear in your neighborhood is cause for concern, this particular bear tried to blend in with the locals by walking on its hind legs like your standard bipedal human. So either someone is very adept at costuming, or World of Warcraft's Pandaren race are less a flight of fancy and more a plausible evolutionary prediction.

New legislation has been introduced by Michigan Democrat Rep. Adam Zemke which aims to ban gay conversion therapy for minors in the state, reports mlive.com.

Zemke hopes Michigan can join California and New Jersey in banning “ex-gay” therapy for under-18s. Efforts to introduce bans on conversion therapy in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state have been blocked or stalled.

Zemke said:

"The evidence shows you cannot change sexual orientation, so the legislation was kind of a no-brainer. We want to make sure children cannot be exposed to situations that are emotionally harmful to them because of their parents' beliefs or desires to try to change their orientation."

In 2009, the American Psychological Association said that attempts to change sexual orientation are ineffective and can have harmful side effects including depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety.

Zemke has had positive support from some Republicans. However, Republican Rep. Gail Haines, chair of the House Health Policy Committee, said that new laws intervening in the relationship between parents and their children "seems unnecessary."

Police on Friday arrested Ali Muhammad Brown, suspect in the murders of two gay men in Seattle on June 1, Q13 FOX News reports:

The West Orange Police Department said officers arrested Brown in the area of the 200 block of Mt. Pleasant Avenue without incident. He was booked at the Homicide Task Force for two open murder warrants from a June 1 double murder in Seattle and an arrest warrant for a carjacking in Point Pleasant, N.J., on June 29.

Brown will be housed at the Essex County Correctional Center and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service, the department said.

Brown, who is originally from the East Orange, N.J., area but who has lived in Burien, Kent and Federal Way, is accused of gunning down 27-year-old Ahmed Said and 23-year-old Dwone Anderson-Young at 29th and King Street in Seattle on June 1.

Gay marriage is legal in New Jersey, and Governor Chris Christie believes that the matter is for now "settled" in his home state. But Governor Christie does not think it's time for the Republican party to drop gay marriage as an issue.

TIME reports that Christie, speaking to reporters over the weekend at the National Governors Association, believes that the U.S. "will resolve this [issue] over a period of time,” and that legal resolutions "should be done state by state."

While the Republican party could feesibly pick up many young voters if it decreased its focus on social issues, including gay marriage, Christie says:

I don’t think that there’s going to be some major referee who’s going to say now it’s time to stop [with the gay marriage debate]...Certainly I’m not going to, because these are opinions that I feel strongly about.

When he was asked whether the U.S. might end up gravitating back toward "traditional" marriage despite the current trend in legal proceedings, Christie said: “I don’t know, I don’t have a crystal ball.”

New Jersey fisherman Steve Clark was fishing near 28-mile wreck, a World War II shipwreck off of Cape May, NJ on June 21 when a 16-foot Great White Shark swam up to his boat and ripped off the chum bag.

Republican Governor Tom Corbett announced Wednesday that his administration will not appeal a federal district court decision Tuesday that declared the state ban on same-sex couples marrying to be unconstitutional. Corbett had vowed in recent to defend the law, but he issued a statement May 21 saying an appeal would be “extremely unlikely to succeed.” “I continue to maintain the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman,” said Corbett. “My duties as Governor require that I follow the laws as interpreted by the Courts and make a judgment as to the likelihood of a successful appeal….The court has spoken, and I will ensure that my administration follows the provisions of Judge Jones’ order with respect for all parties.” And with that, Pennsylvania, the sixth most populous state, becomes the 19th state plus the District of Columbia with marriage equality. The marriage equality states include 44 percent of the nation’s population.

PENNSYLVANIA AUDITOR SPOKE UP:

Even before the release of the court decision declaring Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex couples marrying unconstitutional, the state’s chief fiscal officer urged the governor against an appeal. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a press release May 8, saying it is “unquestionably unfair” to make same-sex couples pay an estimated $1,600 more per year in state taxes because of the ban. And he said it was unwise for the state to pay as much as $400 an hour in legal fees to defend the ban against several lawsuits while the Pennsylvania budget is facing a $1 billion shortfall.

CORBETT COMPETITOR URGED NO APPEAL, TOO:

Democratic businessman Tom Wolf urged Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett not to appeal the federal district court decision that the state ban on same-sex couples marrying is unconstitutional. Wolf, who won Tuesday’s Democratic primary with 58 percent of the vote, said he agrees with the court’s decision.

NJ’S CHRISTIE REAPPOINTS CHIEF JUSTICE:

Lambda Legal and other legal groups had expressed concerns in recent months that New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie might decline to reappoint the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Stuart Rabner. Rabner wrote a critical opinion supporting the declaration that the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying to be unconstitutional. But on Wednesday, Christie announced that he will reappoint Rabner to the position and that, despite his disagreement with Rabner on some decisions, “my respect for him has never been diminished.”